[Immunologic monitoring of transplantation patients: study of the reactivity of cytotoxic precursor cells].

Proliferative and cytotoxic T-cell reactivity subsequent to in vitro stimulation by a lymphocyte pool were studied in ten patients with well-accepted cadaver renal allografts and eight healthy controls. Whereas the proliferative reactivity was about equal in both groups, the cytotoxic responsiveness was markedly reduced in the allograft recipients. We conclude from these results that immunosuppressive drugs as well as specific adaptation processes act preferentially on the cytotoxic precursor cell population.